No lockdown yet in Tejero, Cebu City

THE Covid-19 patients recorded in Brgy. Tejero, Cebu do not belong in one sitio alone, said Tejero Barangay Captain Hermogenes Galang Jr.

Tejero now has 73 Covid-19 patients as of May 13, 2020.

Galang said 70 of the Covid-19 patients in Tejero were all asymptomatic while two were admitted to a hospital.

Tejero’s first case was an inmate in the Cebu City Jail.

Galang said the residents who were infected with Covid-19 came from Alveola St., Daclan, Sampaguita, Villagonzalo I and Villagonzalo 2.

The officials could hardly trace who brought the infection to the barangay, said Galang.

He believes the infection was already present in the area, however, it went unnoticed because majority of the patients were asymptomatic.

When the first case of Tejero broke in the news, though the first case has been imprisoned since 2019, Galang asked the Cebu City Health Department (CCHD) to conduct swab testing on the family.

When health workers collected swab samples from the inmate’s family, Galang said some of the neighbors also submitted themselves for swab testing.

Galang said there were 77 samples from residents, some of whom were from different sitios.

Of the 77, Galang said 13 tested positive for Covid-19 as reported by the CCHD on May 7.

CCHD also recorded one Covid-19 case from Tejero on May 6.

Based on the Facebook page of Brgy. Tejero, the patient was admitted to a private hospital and underwent a swab test at the hospital.

Due to this incident, Galang requested another round of swabbing in Tejero.

There have been five rounds of swabbing conducted in Tejero since the first week of May.

Galang said he has not imposed a lockdown in his barangay yet, only a stricter implementation of health protocol and enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) rules.

Galang will ask the CCHD to conduct another round of swab testing in Tejero but this time, in Sitio Silangan, which is near the port area.

While he also fears for other sitios to be contaminated, he fears for Sitio Silangan the most because the houses there are too close to one another.

Though the number of Covid-19 cases in his barangay has increased, Galang was glad that most of his constituents are cooperative.

He said, “They were the ones who volunteered to isolate themselves. Most of the people in Tejero are cooperative.”

Tejero is a home to around 15,000 residents and is composed of 28 sitios. (JJL)